Chucky is back in theaters, and he got a lot of help from one Omaha man.

The reboot of “Child’s Play,” the horror film famously featuring a kids’ doll that comes to life as a murderous fiend, was brought to life by Tom Elkins, an Omaha-based film editor.

This version of “Child’s Play” is a contemporary take on the 1988 horror classic. A single mother, Karen (Aubrey Plaza), gifts her son Andy (Gabriel Bateman) a Buddi doll, unaware of its sinister nature.

Elkins, 54, has worked in Hollywood for more than two decades, and his résumé includes editing the Tom Hanks-fueled “Inferno,” as well as a long list of horror films including “The Haunting in Connecticut,” “Flatliners,” “Annabelle” and, now, “Child’s Play.”

And he’s excited for his latest work to hit cinema screens.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how it’s received,” Elkins said. “The movie does not take itself too seriously. It’s trying to be funny and scary and little bit heartfelt. It’s very self-aware, which makes it kind of fun.”

Elkins will even take part in a special screening at 7:45 p.m. Friday at Aksarben Cinema. Before the screening, Elkins will talk about the film and take questions about his work.

After finishing his work in May in Vancouver, Elkins has been back in Omaha with his wife, Suzy, and two daughters. We caught up with him while he was on his way to the film’s L.A. premiere to talk about his excitement about Chucky, going up against another toy movie (“Toy Story 4”) and being a part of Hollywood filmmaking while living in Nebraska.

A: We’ll be at the premiere. Then Friday night, we have this running thing now at Aksarben Cinema. Since I first started doing movies as an editor, they would show the movie and make a thing out of it. Before the movie, I talk bout it and answer some questions. That should be fun. It’s a nice little tradition.

Q: You’ve been doing some big projects. What was it like doing “Child’s Play”?

A: The gravity of doing a Chucky movie hit when I saw him in “Ready Player One.” If Spielberg thinks he’s a pop-culture icon, the pressure’s on.

Also, when you look at the chatter online, it’s pretty divisive. Fans are polarized in how they feel about doing a Chucky remake. There’s the team for Brad Dourif (who voiced Chucky in all previous releases). And then there are people excited for Mark Hamill.

Q: Chucky is a mix of a real puppet and some CGI. What was it like to manage that?

A: Sometimes he’s CG, sometimes he’s a practical puppet. Most of the time, he’s a puppet. And the puppet itself was practical, but the eyes were created through CGI. But the movements of the face itself and the way the doll smiles and grimaces, that’s all on camera.

But it was a challenge. You go back and forth and back and forth. The constant dilemma was that, at some point, you have to lock picture so you can get the visual effects going. If you don’t start, you run out of time. So you’re showing the movie to an audience with Chucky looking in various stages of development.

Q: This is obviously a reboot, but did you take any inspiration from the original 1988 movie?

A: Not really. This movie’s very different from that one. This movie is actually quite funny, and some parts are even a little bit emotional. It felt more like a Spielberg movie than kind of the grit and cheese of the original Chucky. In that way, it’s really quite different than the original.

It’s “Child’s Play,” but it’s a different vibe.

Q: Did that factor into your editing choices?

A: What was so fun about this film, from an editing point of view, it was equal parts scary and funny. You got to flex your comedy muscles and horror muscles at the same time. It was super gratifying in that regard. Usually in a scary movie, you’re kind of minimizing the laughs because it takes away the tension. But the script and the director were going 100% for laughs.

It was an interesting way to balance humor and horror so they don’t step on each other.

Q: What about playing with this movie’s tie to modern technology? This time, Chucky is web-enabled.

A: Stories about possession, ghosts, demons and spirituality — all that stuff has existed for thousands of years. This is a new kind of haunting. It’s completely based on technology that’s only existed for less than a decade. All the movies that are doing it now, they’re pioneering new ways to scare audiences.

But it has challenges, too. When you’re dealing with a film about something that is scary or possessed, you have a lot of license. You can click the lights on and off. If you need a jump scare, I can create a noise upstairs from something walking around. You get a little chill.

But with technology, there’s rules. You can’t create something happening for no reason.

Q: Is it amusing to have your scary toy movie go up against a wholesome toy movie in “Toy Story 4”?

A: Have you seen how the marketing folks at Orion have done? (Several posters depict Chucky murdering “Toy Story” toys in various ways.) It’s super inventive, and people are talking about it. But what did Woody ever do?

A: Because we live in Omaha and we don’t live in L.A., every movie for me is kind of a location shoot. Especially being in Canada for so long, you kind of have to give yourself some time together.

I’m running off all over the place making movies, and you can’t do it without a supportive spouse. She puts up with a lot.

I’m forcing myself to hold off on the projects, but part of the magic of living in Omaha is you can afford to do that. There are definitely some things brewing, but none of them start before the end of the summer.

That’s the peril and the joy of the business. You have to have the stomach for the idea that it’s project-based, and when the movie’s over, that’s it.

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10. Anne Ramsey as Mama Fratelli in “The Goonies” (1985) and Momma Lift in “Throw Momma From the Train” (1987)

Don't treat your son poorly or he might hire Billy Crystal to kill you. The Omaha-born actress Anne Ramsey found a late-career niche in playing mean mothers. Ramsey, who died in 1988 and is buried in Omaha, is perhaps best known for playing a pair of nightmare moms in “The Goonies” and “Throw Momma From the Train,” the latter which earned her an Oscar nomination.

9. Mrs. (Anne Bancroft) in “The Graduate” (1967)

Maybe, and no judgment here, but maybe just don’t sleep with the 21-year-old son of your husband’s law partner for a whole summer, and don't later attempt to sabotage the relationship between the young man and your own daughter, even if Simon & Garfunkel writes a song about you. (To be fair, Mrs. Robinson is not the villain of this movie. Benjamin Braddock is.)

6. Norma Bates (played by both a corpse and Anthony Perkins) in “Psycho” (1960)

Don't kill motel guests when they're taking a shower. If we're going on this film alone, Norma was nothing but a dessicated corpse, with “Mother” being a twisted persona of her son, Norman Bates, the bad half of the split personality that kills Marion Crane in the famous shower scene. The novel on which the film is based, along with subsequent films and TV series, revealed that the real Norma was actually a rather wretched mother on a number of levels.

5. Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) in “Mommie Dearest” (1981)

4. Margaret White (Piper Laurie) in “Carrie” (1976)

Don’t be a fanatically religious kook who shames her daughter for menstruating, and don’t lock your daughter in a prayer closet because you never know when your daughter is going to master her telekinetic powers and hurl a set of knives at you.

Bad TV moms

Low-key good moms

The Queen in “Aliens” (1986)

She was just minding her own business, laying eggs that hatched facehuggers — which, of course, orally impregnated humans with baby xenomorphs — when Sigourney Weaver came along and burned up the nest, forcing the Queen to hitch a ride on a spaceship to get revenge for her murdered children. That sounds like one heck of a dedicated mother to me.

Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) in “Friday the 13th” (1980)

Mrs. Voorhees was understandably very upset when her son, Jason, drowned because the camp counselors who were supposed to be watching him were off having sex. Her murderous reaction might have been a bit overboard, but, whatever the case, she’s still a very good mother.

What the 10 worst movie moms teach us about bad parenting

Mother’s Day, which is Sunday, is the day we celebrate good mothers everywhere, chronicling their contributions to positive child-rearing and, ultimately, a better society. But that’s not what the following is for.

This is about the bad moms, the worst moms in movie history, who, through some mix of negligence and abuse, have done a real number on each of their movie children.

Note: In many cases, the following mothers were married to equally awful fathers. I do not mean to diminish the role a bad dad plays in raising and messing up his children. It’s just that it’s not Father’s Day we’re talking about here.

— Micah Mertes

1 of 12

10. Anne Ramsey as Mama Fratelli in “The Goonies” (1985) and Momma Lift in “Throw Momma From the Train” (1987)

Don't treat your son poorly or he might hire Billy Crystal to kill you. The Omaha-born actress Anne Ramsey found a late-career niche in playing mean mothers. Ramsey, who died in 1988 and is buried in Omaha, is perhaps best known for playing a pair of nightmare moms in “The Goonies” and “Throw Momma From the Train,” the latter which earned her an Oscar nomination.

9. Mrs. (Anne Bancroft) in “The Graduate” (1967)

Maybe, and no judgment here, but maybe just don’t sleep with the 21-year-old son of your husband’s law partner for a whole summer, and don't later attempt to sabotage the relationship between the young man and your own daughter, even if Simon & Garfunkel writes a song about you. (To be fair, Mrs. Robinson is not the villain of this movie. Benjamin Braddock is.)

Don’t accidentally leave your son at home when you go on vacation and don’t accidentally let your son get on a plane to New York City by himself, especially with wet bandits about.

6. Norma Bates (played by both a corpse and Anthony Perkins) in “Psycho” (1960)

Don't kill motel guests when they're taking a shower. If we're going on this film alone, Norma was nothing but a dessicated corpse, with “Mother” being a twisted persona of her son, Norman Bates, the bad half of the split personality that kills Marion Crane in the famous shower scene. The novel on which the film is based, along with subsequent films and TV series, revealed that the real Norma was actually a rather wretched mother on a number of levels.

5. Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) in “Mommie Dearest” (1981)

Don’t belittle your daughter after beating her in a swim race and don’t beat her with a wire hanger and don’t strangle her in front of the Redbook reporter, you maniac!

4. Margaret White (Piper Laurie) in “Carrie” (1976)

Don’t be a fanatically religious kook who shames her daughter for menstruating, and don’t lock your daughter in a prayer closet because you never know when your daughter is going to master her telekinetic powers and hurl a set of knives at you.

3. Esther Cobblepot (Diane Salinger) in “Batman Returns” (1992)

Don’t put your deformed baby in a cage and throw that cage into a sewer because that baby might be adopted by penguins and grow up to be a “Batman” villain who runs for mayor.

Bad TV moms

Low-key good moms

The Queen in “Aliens” (1986)

She was just minding her own business, laying eggs that hatched facehuggers — which, of course, orally impregnated humans with baby xenomorphs — when Sigourney Weaver came along and burned up the nest, forcing the Queen to hitch a ride on a spaceship to get revenge for her murdered children. That sounds like one heck of a dedicated mother to me.

Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) in “Friday the 13th” (1980)

Mrs. Voorhees was understandably very upset when her son, Jason, drowned because the camp counselors who were supposed to be watching him were off having sex. Her murderous reaction might have been a bit overboard, but, whatever the case, she’s still a very good mother.